Little Line

If you would have told teenage Jessica that a box of letters would be the most important thing on her wedding day, she would have said “no way” - it would be totally her mom's veil. And yet here she stood, holding a box of letters in her hand and wearing a completely different veil. Teenage her would be freaking out.

On top of the box sat one more letter with My Wife written on top in his perfectly imperfect writing. She thought back to the first letter he wrote her.

Eric had been the odd kid at school; he kept to himself and always was writing in a leather-bound notebook. She and her friends had been playing truth or dare at lunch, and they dared her to write him a “love” note and stick it in his locker. She didn’t want to make him feel bad so she talked them down to just a note.

The next morning, there was a note in her locker. It was short and the printing was hard to read: Thanks for the note, don’t tell anyone I wrote you back, But it was nice to find a note in my locker.

And for some reason, she wrote back. They didn’t share a class, and they hardly shared friends. But there was something about the guy - she wanted to get to know him. She learned he was a songwriter and he played in a band and played bass.

In one letter there was a handmade VIP ticket for his gig that Friday night. Her mom let her go and even offered her a later curfew, saying something about reminding her of her own youth.

Eric met her at the door and brought her backstage to watch. It was a good show - his band sounded good, and she discovered he hadn’t told her that he sang, too! As he played, he looked over at her with a smirk like he had wanted to surprise her. It made her heart skip a beat.

When the show was over he walked toward Jessica. She punched him on the shoulder. “You never told me you could sing!” She handed him a rose. “My dad gets me roses after my stage plays, so I had mom stop by the flower shop on my way here.” She held out the flower.

His cheeks were tinged pink as he took the flower and set it on the case for his base. “Thanks. And you never asked.” They both laughed, and then an awkward moment settled in.

Jessica started panicking; how did they talk in person? Could they talk in person? What if whatever this was only worked on paper?

“The band is almost done packing up, and there is a coffee shop next door…” he looked down and trailed off.

“My mom gave me a later curfew, so yeah I have time.” She watched him pack up and pretended not to notice his bandmates teasing him. They must go to different schools; she didn't recognize them. It was odd to see him joking with friends; he was quiet at school.

They sat in the coffee shop, drinking hot chocolate and sharing a donut. It took a moment but eventually, they found the groove of conversation and soon her mom was there to pick her up.

She became the band's official groupie, even helping them design t-shirts. But Eric and Jessica still didn’t hang out at school, they just slipped notes into each other’s lockers.

Jessica shook her head to bring herself back to the present, smoothing her veil with one hand. She peaked through the window of the room she had been getting ready in. She could see that rose, dried and sitting in a vase. His friends never let him live it down that she had gotten him flowers first.

After four years of high school, so many handwritten notes were tucked in lockers, binders and school textbooks. Jessica couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that they both had phones and yet they both preferred writing notes.

***

Eric looked at the box of letters that Jessica had written him. He picked up the letter on top of the box. My Husband was written in her perfect writing. “I can’t believe you wrote notes to her and we never knew.” His best man and former bandmate nudged him.

“Well yeah, I didn’t need to give you guys even more of a reason to give me a hard time about her.” Eric rolled his eyes.

“Didn't you ask her out in a note?” His best man leaned against the door.

“Not exactly…”

When Eric had left on the one and only tour he went on, he and Jessica still wrote to each other. But Then they sent photos of the handwritten notes via text. Was it strange? Yes, but it made him smile.

They were the opener for a small but more popular band. A small radio show offered to interview with them. And of course, as all boy bands do, they were asked if any special ladies had inspired the songs. His bandmates admitted that Eric did most of the songwriting.

Eric, without much thought, said that he had written one song for his girlfriend. However, the truth was he hadn’t asked Jessica to be his girlfriend yet. So as soon as he had time that night, he wrote her a note. So today I did that interview I was telling you about, and well…. They asked about the song Little Line, you know the one for your birthday? Well, I said I wrote it for my girlfriend…

He sent the photo of the note and waited… Ding! She texted back a single sentence: “I’m okay with being your girlfriend. ❤️”

Her friends gave her a hard time about not making him ask properly. So when he proposed, he had pulled out all the stops. After that, her friends finally agreed that he had made up for it.

And now, from across the church, they both opened letters they’d been all morning to read.